Building construction system

ABSTRACT

A building construction system composed of individual prefabricated structural units which are of a size that can be manufactured at a factory and transported on conventional roadways and then assembled in stacked position to provide a multistoried structure. The individual units are paired together to provide an enlarged open expanse on one floor of the resulting building and arranged such that their exterior walls transfer the loads of units mounted above them to manageable and convenient support columns.

United States Patent Klipfel {451 July25, 1972 [54] BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM 21 Appl. No.: 11,945

[52] US. Cl 52/79, 52/236 [51] Int. Cl c ..E04h 9/06 [58] Field of Search ..52/79, 236; 40/25-27 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,609,929 10/1971 Brown ..52/79 2,249,060 7/l94l Stone ..46/25 3,422,582 1/1969 Van Der Lely.. ..52/79 3.529.386 9/1970 Ostendorf ..52/79 3.520.098 7/1970 Johnston... .....52/79 X 3,488,900 1/1970 Reid ..52/79 2,154,142 4/1939 Whelan ..52/236 X 3,455,075 7/1969 Frey ...$2/79 X 3,152,366 lO/l964 McCrory et al ..52/79 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,513,929 1968 France ..52/79 Primary ExaminerFrank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Henry E. Raduazo Anorney-Amster & Rothstein [57] ABSTRACT A building construction system composed of individual prefabricated structural units which are of a size that can be manufactured at a factory and transported on conventional roadways and then assembled in stacked position to provide a multistoried structure. The individual units are paired together to provide an enlarged open expanse on one floor of the resulting building and arranged such that their exterior walls transfer the loads of units mounted above them to manageable and convenient support columns.

8 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures Patented July 25, 1972 3,678,637

2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 4a rm/K Kl. p x-1.

4 TTORNYJ Patented July 25, 1972 3,678,637

2 Shoots-Sheet 2 FIG. 4. FIG. 5.

INVENTOR. APTHUQ K t. IPFEL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM The present invention relates generally to building constructions and in particular to a new building construction unit which is particularly useful for multiple unit structure which can be assembled on site but which are manufactured at a remote factory location.

It has long been felt that the building technology for multi-' ple unit structures and specifically for multiple unit dwellings has lagged far behind the manufacturing technologies which have been commercially employed in other industries. Both single family dwellings and multiple family units, by and large are still constructed on a one at a time, hand work, custom job basis. Even "tract houses" are basically constructed in this outmoded, inefficient manner, the design of their basic structured elements precludes the advantages which can be obtained from factory construction.

Several attempts have been made to pre-assembly various parts of finished structures and more ambitious attempts have been made to make entire structural units which may be joined together to form a completed multi-story dwelling (such as the Habitat building which was manufactured for Expo 67 in Montreal). But these attempts have, for a large variety of reasons, not been successful either from the point of view of the desirability of the finished product or the cost involved in producing it. In large measure, this is resulted from the basic failure to appreciate and work within some basic design parameters and then to provide a structural system which would produce a viable end product within those desigted parameters.

Recognizing that American factory production techniques as incorporated, for example, in the mobile home industry, have achieved a high order of efficiency in the United States, it appears desirable to use the manufacturing techniques developed in that industry. It is desirable to construct units at an existing offsite mass production factory, transport those units to the site and assemble them in some unified pattern to complete the building. Of course, there is a rigid size limitation for such units since they must be transported on ordinary roads and highways at a cost which does not price the reaper! tive units out of the market. it has been found that units in the order of 10 to 12 feet wide and approximately 30 to 40 feet long can be accommodated on ordinary flatbed trucks and transported without any special costly requirements insofar as routing, tree removal, wire removal, etc. As a result of this size limitation, the prior art has been restricted to a maximum room size in the finished structure within the ID to l2 foot width limitation.

The present invention provides a structural system in which the pre-manufacmred (pm-fabricated) units within the sine limitations of 10 to l2 feet wide by 30 to 40 feet long can be joined together on site to provide unbroken finished room sizes of up to 20 to 24 by '30 to 40 feet with a virtually infinite number of smaller variationspossible.

Accordingly, it is a broad and general object of the present invention to provide an improved building construction wherein the individual units of the construction may be manufactured at one location and those units assembled into the finished structure at another location. Specifically, it an object of the present invention to provide such a structure in which the unit costs are low and the design criteria for open spaces in the finished structures is not limited by the widths of the individual units.

It is within the contemplation of the present invention to provide a housing structure, portions of which may be manufactured at a factory location using mus production, high efficiency techniques, in which the units may be tramported over ordinary roads by ordinary shipping techniques and then, aaembled on site to provide a finished building structure.

It is an object of the invention to provide a prefabricated housing unit which eliminates one or more of the disadvantages anociated with prior systems.

In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention there is provided a multiple dwelling structure made up of pairs of prefabricated building units. Each of these building units has a floor and at least one wall. Pairs of units are joined together along one of their respective edges with the one wall being on the outer edges of the paired structure, thus creating a usable space substantially equal to twice the width of individual units. Pairs of units are stacked upon each other with individual units oriented at 90 to the units upon which it is resting; the side walls of each pair of units therefore support the pair of units immediately above and act as a bridge over the side walls of the pair of units immediately below. The side walls function to transmit the weight of upper units downwardly and outwardly to the lower comer of the side walls such that the weight of each paired unit is transmitted to the next lower structure and specifically the lower four comers of the two said side walls of that structure.

The brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be best appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view 0 a single basic unit in accordance with the present inventio FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that shown in FIG. I but with a second basic unit positioned adjacent the first basic unit to form a pair of units in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective and exploded view showing a number of paired units positioned one on the other and all mounted on a foundation to create a multi-storied unit from the basic units of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the assembled structure resulting from the series construction illustrated in FIGS. I through 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of another multi-storied structure and which the various pairs of building units are arranged in two vertical sets to give added stability for use as a high-rise structure;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, partially exploded, showing the basic building units with additional exterior walls and roofs and with some interior partitions to giv: a schematic illustration of an actual finished building.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a finished structure, with full exterior walls and roofs, built in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 3 an exploded view of a four story structure, generally designated by the numeral 10 in which each stly is made up of two separate construction units in accordance with the present invention. The construction units are generally designated by the numeral 12 and a single basic one ofthese construction units is illustrated in FIG. I. Very generally, the comtruction units are joined into pairs of units in parallel arrayandthe pairsarethen stacked one upon theother,in90 orientation one to the other, to form a multistory building. A detailed description of the exploded structure shown in FIG. 3 will be delayed so that an explanation ofthe assembly cfindividual construction units I0 may be given first.

The construction unit I2 illustrated in FIG. I is shown in a form reduced to its basic elements'and comprises a floor 14 and a side wall I6. In the typical case which will be described here,theflooris36feetlongand I2feetwideandtheride wall 16 is 24 feet long and about 9 feet high and extends upwardly at right angles from the floor adjacent one of the ends ofthe floor 14. Thus, there is a l2 foot section of the floor at the other end which does not have a wall configuration. The unit shown in FIG. I has its side wall I6 to the [ch as viewed from the free end of the floor I4 and, therefore, it is designated by the numeral 12L to indicate a left hand construction unit. A right hand construction unit HR is shown in FIG. 2. These units may be made with the floor 14 and wall I constructed as a single or, alternatively, the wall 16 or the structural portions thereof may be added to the unit on site.

Various finishing elements such as interior floor and walls, plumbing, electricity, etc. may be installed on the floor 14 at the factory before transportation to the building site.

Two units 12L and 12R are joined together along the free edge of their floors as shown in FIG. 2 such that a paired building unit is constructed which has an open floor of size approximately 24 feet by 36 feet with two size walls 16 on opposite sides of the 24 foot dimension. The 24 foot long wall panels are both positioned at one end of the combined floor area. This leaves a bounded floor area of approximately 24 by 24 feet and a free floor area of approximately 12 by 24 feet.

Pairs of the basic construction units 12L, and 12R may be stacked, one upon the other, each at a 90 orientation to the next adjacent upper and lower pairs of units, thereby to form a multiple story unit. A conventional foundation, generally designated here by the numeral 18, may consist of two bridge units 20 and 22 constructed in any convenient and conventional fashion. The bridges 20, 22 are positioned 24 feet from each other and each extends 24 feet in length. The bridges in this illustrative embodiment have cross beams 24 on which are supported the floors 14 of the lower most pair of construction units, 12.

After the basic construction units 12 have been delivered to the building site, they are lifted, one at a time, and placed in position. The first construction unit 12, which has been labeled A in FIG. 3 for ease of understanding, is mounted on the foundation 18 with its closed end (the end with the side wall 16) along one of the beams 24 and with the other cross beam 24 of the foundation resting immediately under the floor 14 at the point of the inward end of the exterior wall 16. The free end of the floor 14 extends beyond the foundation 18 with a by 10 foot cantilever. Unit B is then lifted off its trailer, moved over to the site and lowered directly onto the foundation 18. The two floor sectiom 14 are placed exactly together and the first story of the building 10 is formed. Units C and D are then transported from their respective transport trailers to the building construction and are placed on units A and B, at a 90 change in orientation units A and B, and bridging the walls 16 of units A and B. Specifically, unit C is placed with its closed end at and over the outside wall 16 of unit A and B. Specifically, unit C is placed with its closed end at and over the outside wall 16 of unit A and with its outside wall 16 directly over the beam 24 of the foundation bridge 20. The open end of the construction unit C rests upon the wall 16 of construction unit B and forms a bridge over the space defined by the walls 16 of the first construction units A and 8. Construction unit D is placed directly adjacent construction unit C to create the second pair of basic construction units and the second defined building space in the building 10. Of course, if the walls 16 or their structural members are not joined in the units at the factory, they will be added to the units during this process.

In similar fashion, construction unit E and F are lowered onto construction unit C and D. Units E and F are oriented parallel to construction units A and B and are, therefore, 90 out of phase with the units upon which they rest. This process continues for as many stories as are to be formed in the building 10. As seen in FIG. 3, construction unit G bridges the space between the walls 16 of construction E and F. Unit H (not shown) will be joined with unit G.

The walls 16 may be solid or may have openings therein to form doors, windows and the like. There may be internal structural members to support the loads from above or the wall material itself may bear the load. As a further alternative, the wall 16 may be a separate bridge-like unit (an inverted U") comprising a longitudinal beam and two columns which may be filled in or left open, built into a wall or added externally or handled in any other convenient fashion. In short, the actual construction of the units and their component parts may be of any material and may utilize any particular technology which can be advantageously used to produce the basic structure.

Reference to FIG. 4 will show that the various construction units 12, when stacked one upon the other in pairs as described in connection FIG. 3, will transmit all their weight loads down to essentially four columns, two on each side of the building. The distribution of the weight loads will be appreciated by considering the role of the construction unit 12 at location C. The weight of the construction unit 12 at location C and the weight of the units stacked above it, is delivered to the walls 16 of construction units A and B at the location of the two arrows in FIG. 4 which, for convenience, have been marked X. The walls 16 of construction units C and D support the floor and walls of all the units stacked above them and transfers the loads outwardly to the lower comers of these walls and then to the walls of the next lower construction units 12 (i.e., units A and B). In a similar manner the walls 16 of the construction units located at A and 8 also transfer the loads outwardly to their corners and then downwardly to the next lower supporting structure. In this particular case the next lowest supporting structure is the foundation 18 which, (as may be best seen in FIG. 13) transmits the loads directly to the ground through the four column supports.

In FIG. 5, there is illustrated a variation upon or an addition to the construction shown in FIG. 4. In this variation, the pairs of construction units are arranged in two rather than one vertical stacks of construction units. Openings may be made in the side walls 16 of some or all of the units to allow access between the spaces defined by adjacent pairs of the units. The two column structure provides greater strength due to broader base and broader area for cross bracing and is the type of construction desirable for high rise units of 5 or 6 or more stories.

The structural materials used to form the basic building units 12 may vary with the desires of the architect, the design criteria set for the particular building to be constructed, the availability of materials and cost considerations. Reinforced concrete presents an easy and stable system of construction for these units and they can easily be constructed by using all wood frame techniques or steel reinforced frame construction or any combination of difi'erent elements. In short, any basic construction may be used which can fulfill the simple requirements for the walls 16 to function as bridging members to distribute loads to their lower comers and any construction may be used for the floors which will support their loads and deliver them to their respective lower supporting structures.

It will be appreciated that the description given here and the units illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5 do not describe an actual finished building; the description only shows a building made up of the essential structural requirement of the present invention. In an actual case, the individual construction units 14 would comprise more than simply the floor l4 and the wall 16. While the floor 14 and the wall 16 are the only essential structural features of a building unit, the actual commercial units are much more complete. In the typical construction of an actual dwelling or the like there would be end walls, side walls, roofs, internal partitions, balconies, utilities, etc. all installed at the factory where the units themselves were constructed. This is schematically illustrated in FIG. 6 where more complete construction units 14 are shown. For example, the construction unit shown in position G in FIG. 6 has, in addition to its side wall 16 and floor 14 some internal walls 26 to divide the space into rooms, bathrooms, closets in the like as well as end walls 28, 30 and a roof portion 32 for that part of the construction unit which is center levered out beyond the extent of the foundation 1B.

In FIG. 7, a simple four story unit is shown with the upper most part of construction units having a complete roof 34. Obviously, walls, doors, walkways, skylights, windows, balcony, etc. could and would be provided in various designs typical building constructions with variations being effected for the various needs to be met by the particular building.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that present construction provides for units of small and manageable size to be manufactured in a factory, much in the style of manufactured present mobile homes, and simply an easily transported over conventional trucking equipment, to a site where they are to be joined together and assembled into a composite structure. The system provides for a composite structure which is not inherently limited by the size configuration of the individual construction units. Thus, use of the described structure makes possible the employment of the considerable manufacturing technology which has been developed in mass production, factory construction but obviates the prior space limits which existed because of the transportation limits which exist relating to the size of units which can be readily transported. it is contemplated that the typical building utilizing the present invention will have all of its mechanical and virtually all of its interior and exterior finishing work completed at the factory. Thus, the major part of the work will be done when the units are stacked together into a single building structure. Such utilization of factory manufacture, as opposed to on-site, custom manufacture is producing significant cost advantages and is, thereby fulfilling the goods which this invention was intended to meet.

Obviously, the embodiments of the invention may vary in tremendous scope as to individual design layout and constructional material and still incorporating the basic system of paired units of structural wall and floor construction arranged in 90 offset stacking as described above. Among the most important advantages of the invention is the wide scope of design latitude which is possible.

What I claim is:

l. A building construction comprising a plurality of pairs of structural units arranged in a stacked relationship with the individual structural units of each pair being arranged in a sideby-side relationship to each other, said pairs being mounted one above the other and oriented at 90 to the next verticallyadjacent pairs of units, each of said units being substantially longer than it is wide; each of the structural units including a rectangular floor longer than it is wide and a side wall along the longer edge of said floor at the outside of said pair of units, said side wall having structural load-carrying means associated therewith extending to the upper edge of said side wall and transmitting loads placed on said upper edge downwardly and outwardly to support locations spaced apart from each other along said one longer edge; said side wall being of a length between said support locations equal to the combined width of said pairs of units; said floors of said pairs of units between said side walls comprising an area substantially equal to twice the width of each of said floors and being free from vertical support members carrying loads from the pairs of units thereabove, the next vertically adjacent pairs of said units being directly mounted on and supported by said side walls such that said floors and side walls of a pair of units define a space extending upwardly to the top of said side walls free of any cross-beams carrying loads of pairs of units thereabove.

2. A building construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said pairs of units include end walls cooperatively arranged with said side walls to enclose said defined space.

3. A building construction in accordance with claim 2 having interior partitions defining separate areas within said defined space.

4. A building construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein said structural load carrying means is within said side wall.

5. A building construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein said structural load carrying means of said side wall extends along said one edge of said rectangular floor for substantially less than the full length of said rectangular floor.

6. A building construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein successive vertically adjacent pairs of units have portions thereof which extend beyond the side walls of the next lower pairs of units and are cantilevered thereover.

7. A building construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein two stacks of said pairs of structural units are positioned in side-by-side relationship and are structurally in contact with each other to form a multiple unit, multiple story structure.

8. A building construction comprising a plurality of pairs of structural units arranged in a stacked relationship with said pairs of units oriented at to the next vertically adjacent pair of units; each unit including a rectangular floor longer than it is wide and a side wall along one edge of the floor; said side wall having structural load-carrying means associated therewith extending no higher than the top of said side wall for transmitting a load placed thereon downwardly and outwardly to support locations spaced apart from each other along said one edge of said floor; the distance between said support locations equal to substantially twice the width of the floor of said unit; said units in said pairs being arranged in side-by-side configuration with the floors thereof comprising an area free of interruption by vertical support members substantially equal to twice the width of one of said units; the next vertically adjacent pairs of said units being directly mounted on and supported by said load-carrying means of said side walls such that said floors and side walls define a space extending upwardly to the bottom of said next vertically adjacent pairs of said units free of any cross-beams supporting the weight of said next vertically adjacent pairs of units.

* k i i i 

1. A building construction comprising a plurality of pairs of structural units arranged in a stacked relationship with the individual structural units of each pair being arranged in a side-by-side relationship to each other, said pairs being mounted one above the other and oriented at 90* to the next verticallyadjacent pairs of units, each of said units being substantially longer than it is wide; each of the structural units including a rectangular floor longer than it is wide and a side wall along the longer edge of said floor at the outside of said pair of units, said side wall having structural load-carrying means associated therewith extending to the upper edge of said side wall and transmitting loads placed on said upper edge downwardly and outwardly to support locations spaced apart from each other along said one longer edge; said side wall being of a length between said support locations equal to the combined width of said pairs of units; said floors of said pairs of units between said side walls comprising an area substantially equal to twice the width of each of said floors and being free from vertical support members carrying loads from the pairs of units thereabove, the next vertically adjacent pairs of said units being directly mounted on and supported by said side walls such that said floors and side walls of a pair of units define a space extending upwardly to the top of said side walls free of any cross-beams carrying loads of pairs of units thereabove.
 2. A building construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said pairs of units include end walls cooperatively arranged with said side walls to enclose said defined space.
 3. A building construction in accordance with claim 2 having interior partitions defining separate areas within said defined space.
 4. A building construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein said structural load carrying means is within said side wall.
 5. A building construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein said structural load carrying means of said side wall extends along said one edge of said rectangular floor for substantially less than the full length of said rectangular floor.
 6. A building construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein successive vertically adjacent pairs of units have portions thereof which extend beyond the side walls of the next lower pairs of units and are cantilevered thereover.
 7. A building construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein two stacks of said pairs of structural units are positioned in side-by-side relationship and are structurally in contact with each other to form a multiple unit, multiple story structure.
 8. A building construction comprising a plurality of pairs of structural units arranged in a stacked relationship with said pairs of units oriented at 90* to the next vertically adjacent pair of units; each unit including a rectangular floor longer than it is wide and a side wall along one edge of the floor; said side wall having structural load-carrying means associated therewith extending no higher than the top of said side wall for transmitting a load placed thereon downwardly and outwardly to support locations spaced apart from each other along said one edge of said floor; the distance between said support locations equal to substantially twice the width of the floor of said unit; said units in said pairs being arranged in side-by-side configuration with the floors thereof comprising an area free of interruption by vertical support members substantially equal to twice the width of one of said units; the next vertically adjacent pairs of said units being directly mounted on and supported by said load-carrying means of said side walls such that said floors and side walls define a space extending upwardly to the bottom of said next vertically adjacent pairs of said units free of any cross-beams supporting the weight of said next vertically adjacent pairs of units. 